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Colorado Tax Lien — Lien-Landmine Checklist
What survives the sale, the redemption rules, and the checks to run before you bid. Free from DeedFlex.
Email me this checklist + this week's Colorado deals.
Colorado at a glance. Colorado is a
tax-lien state.
Redemption: 9 points above the Sept-1 federal discount rate: 13%/yr for 2026-sale certificates (14% in 2025, 15% in 2024). Window: from Aug 1 of the 3rd year the holder can request a public treasurer's deed auction (anyone may outbid). Overbid/premium earns no interest and isn't refunded. (Typical — verify with the county.)
Landmines What can survive the sale (you inherit these)
- Federal / IRS tax liens. A properly-noticed sale extinguishes them, but the IRS keeps a 120-day right of redemption, so treat any IRS-lien parcel as elevated risk.
- Governmental & municipal liens. Special assessments, CDD/POA, water/sewer, and demolition liens can survive in many states.
- Code-enforcement liens. Often survive and can be large.
- Easements & deed restrictions of record.
22,837
Colorado parcels DeedFlex tracks & scores
2,752
carrying a lien flag worth verifying
HOA / condo dues: in most states (e.g. Florida, per Fla. Stat. 197.552) a properly-noticed tax deed extinguishes prior private HOA assessments. But treatment varies by state, and governmental CDD/POA assessments can survive. Verify with the association and county.
Usually cleared What the sale typically clears
- Private mortgages & deeds of trust. Extinguished if the lender was properly noticed.
- Most junior judgment liens. Wiped if the lienholder was noticed.
- The prior owner's interest. Subject to their redemption right until it expires.
Your pre-bid checklist
- Pull the parcel record from the County Property Appraiser (value, sqft, year built, zoning).
- Read the clerk's tax-sale file & notice list — who was properly noticed?
- Search county records for a Notice of Federal Tax Lien (IRS liens get a 120-day window).
- Pull code-enforcement & municipal lien balances from the city — in writing.
- Call the HOA / condo association for the assessment status — don't trust the title report alone.
- Order a pre-sale title search or ownership & encumbrance (O&E) report ($50–$200).
- Confirm the redemption window, what it pays, and the auction platform / date.
- Drive (or street-view) the property and the block.
How investors think about the numbers
A low opening bid alone doesn't make a deal work. A conservative max bid is about 70% of after-repair value, minus rehab, minus any surviving liens, minus a title-clearing reserve ($1,500–$5,000 quiet title in most states). Run your exact numbers on the free DeedFlex Deal Analyzer.
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